AB language
In English philology, AB language is a variety of Middle English found in the Corpus manuscript, containing Ancrene Wisse (whence "A"), and in MS Bodley 34 in Bodleian Library, Oxford (whence "B"). The Bodley manuscript includes what is known as the Katherine Group. The Wooing Group texts use this same language.
The term was coined in 1929 by J. R. R. Tolkien who noted that the dialect of both manuscripts is highly standardized, pointing to "a 'standard' language based on one in use in the West Midlands in the 13th century." AB language is "characterized by French and Norse loanwords, colloquial expressions, conservative spelling, and similarities to Old English syntax". According to Michelle M. Sauer:
See also
References
Sources
- Corrie, Marilyn (2006). "Middle English – Dialects and Diversity". In Mugglestone, Lynda (ed.). The Oxford History of English. Oxford University Press. pp. 86–119.
- Crystal, David (2004). The Stories of English. London: Penguin Books. Chapter 9.
- Hall, Joseph, ed. (1920). Selections from Early Middle English, 1130–1250. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 2 vols.
- Tolkien, J. R. R. (1929). Garrod, H. W. (ed.). "Ancrene Wisse and Hali Meiðhad". Essays and Studies by Members of the English Association. 14. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 104–126.
- Tolkien, J. R. R., ed. (2000) [1962]. The English Text of the Ancrene Riwle: Ancrene Wisse: Edited from MS. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 402. Early English Text Society 249. Ker, N. R. (intro.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-722249-8.